Form issuing machine



Oct, 12, 1943. E. G. sTREcKFuss 2,331,635

FORM ISSUING MACHINE Filed Jan. 5, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 o "ZZ 217 l z o PART A I 7c I 7 PART B 282 k i 9 $10.51 I 1 PART C 3 INVENTOR. fLMER G. Swan-ass.

' ATTORNEYS.

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FORM ISSUING MAIQHINE Filed Jan. 3, 194; '4 She ets-Sheet 2 m SQ: Q Ma 55 INVENTOR.

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I L m E. FQIUI Oct. 12, 1943. E. G. sTREcKFuss FORM ISSUING MACHINE Filed Jan. 3 1 941 Oct- 1943- E. G. STRECKFUSS 2,

INVENTOR. [20452 G. Srascgruss.

ATTORNEYS- Patented Oct. 12, 1 943 FORM ISSUING MACHINE Elmer G. Streckfuss, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to The Cincinnati Time Recorder Company,

Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application January 3, 1941, Serial No. 373,009

7' Claims.

219,000 filed July 13, 1938, in which I show and describe an electrically operated machine, preferably initia ly set into operation by the insertion of a coin. In the present embodiment, I have used a manually operated device which performs similar functions to the electrically operated device illustrated in my said application for patent.

In the present embodiment I have used a coin slide, familiar in coin operated machines, employing the motion imparted to this slide for setting into operation a clock controlled printing device, opening a shutter, and releasing the form feed device for a manual operation. To illustrate a mechanism suitable for carrying out my invention, I have shown and will describe a preferred embodiment, it being understood that the novelty therein, and illustrated by the drawings and description, will be set forth in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figs. 1, 2 and 3 are respectively a plan view, a side elevation and a front elevation of my strip dispenser.

Fig. 4 illustrates a preferred form of the strip.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view of the strip with the date and time printed thereon.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 6-6 of Fig. 3 but having certain parts broken away and certain parts in section.

Fig. '7 is a section taken alon line 1-1 of Fig. 6 showing a detail of the lock releasing mechanism.

Fig. 8 is a section taken along line 8-8 of Fig. 6' showing the lock device,

Fig. 9 is a perspective of a latch member employed in the lock. 3

Fig. 10 is a section taken along line Ill-l0 of Fig. 6 showing one end of the shaft upon which the printing hammer is mounted.

Fig. 11 is a section taken along line li--.|l of Fig. 3 but having certain parts broken away and certain parts in section.

Fig. 12 is a section taken along line II-l2 of Fig. 11. V

Fig. 13 is a section taken along line l3 --l3 of Fig. 12, and

Fig. 14 is a section similar to Fig. 13 but showing an alternate position of the parts.

In Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive I have illustrated the external appearance of my machine and a preferred form of strip such as may be employed in the sale of accident insurance.

The machine has a casing or housing I having a forwardly extending portion 2 in which strip dispensing mechanism, later to be described in detail, is contained. A rearward upstanding portion 3 of the casing contains clock mechanism for operating time printing wheels. r

In operating the machine a coin is deposited in the coin slide or control device 4 and the plunger thereof pushed inward. This movement actuates three trains of mechanism within the machine the first of which serves to stamp the exact time and date on the strip to be dispensed. The second train of mechanism opens an aperture 5 in the face of the housing so that the purchaser's signature and/or other data may be written on the revealed portion of the strip. The third train of mechanismfunctions to release a locking device so that the dispensing crank 6 may be operated to finally eject the strip. After ejection of the strip the machine will again be locked until another coin is deposited.

Referring now to Fig. 11 the strip to be dispensed is indicated at I and a duplicate strip.

to be retained in the machine is indicated at 8. The supply of strips may be foldedas shown to form a pile 9 from which pile the material is threaded about shafts III, II, I2, 13, over a writing support plate It and thence to a pair of sprocket wheels indicated at IS, the strips being suitably perforated to accommodate the sprockets.

As the strips are fed past the sprocket wheels by rotation ofsame the upper strip 'I"passes through a dispensing aperture l6 in the casing whence the issued portion of the strip may detached by tearing along the knife edge ll. The lower strip, which is to be retained, passes to-thfj' bottom of the casing .to form a pile Hi.

The printing of time and date is accom plished by the printing hammer l9 which strikes, the strip material against an inked ribbon 20 and a set of'time indicating type Whe'els ZI The type wheels 2| are properly driven by'gearing indi cated'at 22 from a clock mechanism contained in" a casing 23. The construction of the type wheels and mechanism controlling same form no part of my' present invention. As the time imprint will o'ccur'on'ly on the strip 1 which contacts the ribbon it is necessary to provide means for duplicating the imprint on strip 8. To this end the strip 1 may be coated on its under side with a suitable duplicating medium such as carbon. Referring to Figs. 4 and 5 the strip 1 has underneath coated areas 10. and 1b which serve to duplicate any data applied thereover to the underlying strip 2. The printed date is indicated at 1c and suitable perforations for the feed wheels are shown at 1d.

Referring to Fig. 6 the coin slide 4 has affixed to the inner end of its plunger 4a a downward bent angle piece 24 to which is fixed'a horizontally extending bar 26. The bar 26 has at its rear end a slot 26a which is slidable upon the stud 26 fixed in lever arm 21. The arm 21 is fixed pn shaft l6 which is suitably journalled in the frame 26 and extends to the other side of the machine where it serves to operate other mechanism.

It will be clear from Fig. 6 that when the coin plunger is pushed inward and the lost motion provided by slot 26a is consumed the arm 21 and shaft l6 will be rocked in an arc of counterclockwise direction as indicated by the arrow X or, as seen in Fig. 11 (which shows the opposite side of the mechanism) the shaft I6 and its associated elements will be rocked in clockwise direction as indicated by arrow Y. To this end of shaft I6 is fixed a lever arm 26 having pivoted thereto as at 26 a hook like member 2| which engages a finger like element 22 fixed to a shaft 32 on which shaft the printing hammer I9 is carried. Movement of the arm 26 is limited by a stop 29a.

The member 2| has a cam surface 2|a which bears against a roller 24 fixed in the frame and is urged to the position shown by a light spring 26.

When the lever arm I2 is carried in the direction of arrow Y by actuation of the coin slot plunger as before explained the member 2| will be carried therewith thus rocking shaft 23 and hammer Is in clockwise direction as seen in Fig. 11. This action is resisted by a spring tension means acting on shaft 22 to be presently described and as the movement progresses the cam roller 34 bearing against cam surface 2|a causes disengagement of the members 2| and 22 whereupon the shaft 22 and hammer l6 are forcibly returned by the spring tension device to accomplish printing of the strip.

The spring tension means above referred to in conjunction with shaft 22 is shown in detail in Figs. 6 and 10. As there shown the shaft 22 is provided with a lever arm 26 which is urged to the position shown against a stop lug 21 by the printing hammer actuating spring 32. The member 26 is pivotally mounted on the shaft 22 but relative movement between the two members is confined by a pin 22 which extends through and is fixed in the shaft 22. A spring 46 urges the members to the normal relative position as shown.- The hub or hearing portion of member 26 has a slot or cut out portion the bottom surfaces 26a. and 26b of which serve to abut the pin 26 to confine relative movement of the shaft and Referring again to Fig. 11 the lever 26 has pivoted at its outer end a second member or link 4| which engages a stud 42 to operate the lever member 42. Member 42 is fixed to a shaft 44 which extends to the other side of the machine and carries therebetween a pair of arms 46 and 46 which serve to operate a shutter member 41 normally obstructing the aperture 6. Movement of the lever 42 is limited by the stop 42b. The shutter member is arranged to slide in ways 46 and 49 provided in the upper rails of the frame (Fig. 12) and has a pair of lugs or ears 62 which extend downwardly to engage operating pins 66 and 5| in the arms 45 and 46. In Fig. 13 the shutter is shown in the closed position and in Fig. 14 it is shown in open position.

As shown best in Figs. 12, 13 and 14 a locking device is provided to prevent tampering with the shutter. As shown the shutter operating shaft 44 has fixed thereon a lever 63 the lower end of which (as seen in Fig. 13) abuts a stop member 54. The member 54 is pivotally mounted as at 55 to a collar 56 fixed on shaft 23 and a light spring 51 urges the member to the position shown. It will thus be clear that the shutter member 41 cannot be moved to open position by tampering with same through the aperture 6. However, when the coin slide is operated the hammer shaft 22 will be rocked in a direction counter-clockwise as seen in Fig. 13 by mechanism previously described, thus the stop member 54 will be moved to a position not obstructing movement of lever 63 and the shutter may then be moved to open position by linkage already described. Thelinkage of the machine is so arranged that the printing hammer I9 is actuated to imprint time and date before the shutter is opened, thus when the shutter has been moved to complete open position as seen in Fig. 14 the shaft 22 will have returned to its normal position and the member 64, due to is pivoted arrangement, will be depressed by lever 53 against tension of spring 61. The member 54 thus forms a latch which will again engage behind lever 62 when the shutter is moved to closed position. It may be pointed out that the slot in the member 4| of Fig. 11 is long enough to provide a very small amount of play sufficient to permit rotation in a slight degree of the lock 54 before becoming operative to move the shutter operator linkage.

Referring to Fig. 11 the shutter is automatically returned to the closed position when the ejection crank 6 is operated to. dispense the strip. The crank 6 is fixed to a shaft 66 which shaft is suitably journalled in the frames and also carries the sprockets |5 before mentioned and a disc 6|. Disc 6| carries a stud 62 which is located to contact the end of a link 62 and return same to the position shown when crank 6 is operated. The link 62 is pivotally attached as at 66 to an arm 42a of member 42 and has an intermediate slot 64 by which it is slidably carried on a stud 65 fixed in the frame. When the shutter 41 is in open position the link 62 will abut stud 22 so that movement of the stud, which occurs when handle 6 is operated to eject the strip, will return the link to its normal position as shown to close the shutter.

Associated with crank 6 and shaft 66 is a looking device which prevents issuance of the strip except when a coin has been deposited. This device is shown in Figs. 6 to 9 inclusive. Shaft 66 has fixed thereto a ratchet wheel 16 having a spring pressed pawl 1| which permits rotation of the shaft and its associated elements only in the counter-clockwise direction as indicated by the arrow Z. Rotation in this direction, however, is prevented by a lug '12 which is carried on the ratchet I and a pivoted stop member I3 which normally lies in the path of the lug 12.

The member 13 is pivoted to bracket 14 as at r 15 I and has an upward extending portion 16 adapted to be engaged by a latch 11' which is carried on the ratchet wheel. The latch 11 consists of a pivoted member 18 which is carried on bracket 18a and is urged to the position shown against a stop pin 19 by a spring 80. The member 13 is urged to the locking position shown by a spring 8| but when a coin is deposited in the slide 4 and the plunger 4a pushed inward a member 82 carried thereon strikes an arm 83 of a bent lever 84 to rotate same about its'pivot 85 causing arm 86 of the lever to carry the lower end of member 83 outward as indicated by the arrow A in Fig. 8. As this occurs, the portion 16 will become engaged behind the latch 18 and member I3 will remain in an outward position so as not to obstruct the path of lug 12 thus permitting rotation of shaft 60 to eject the strip. As soon as the shaft 60 is moved through an arc of rotation suflicient to carry the stop lug l2 beyond the member 13 the member 13 will return to its normal position due to the fact that the latch 18 is mounted on ratchet l0 and travels therewith to. become disengaged beneath the portion 16. The return of member '13 to its normal position obstructing the path of lug 12 will thus prevent more than one complete revolution of shaft 60 and its associated elements for each coin deposited.

,The operation of the device will now be clear. When a person inserts a coin in the coin slide, which may have the usual safeguards requiring a propercoin and a proper length of path of movement, as in other coin slide machines, .the operator must push in upon the said coin slide. There will be a form length of the paper to be issued lying on the usual support beneath the top casing of the machine, with the portion to be imprinted bent around the inner edge of the support,- and imposition opposite the type wheels. No movement of the feed handle can be initiated without the, operation of the coin slide, nor can theuser shift the shutter that closes the writing opening, pushing this shutter out of the way.

'ppon pushing in on the coin slide, which is the only thing that the user can do, the printinghamme; will at once imprint the time and date, or such other indicia as are required on the upper most strip, which data will be carried through to thelowermost strip. At about the same instant the shutter will be moved away from the writing opening, whereupon the user will write in his name or such other data as will be required to identify the strip to be issued as his own. The machine will then stand in position until efiort made to issue the strip. The crank handle is then grasped by the operator, which will issue theuppermost strip, the lowermost one passing into the casing of the machine beyond the feed opening. It will be so arranged that one revolution of the crank will issue just one form length of the paper strip, and arrange a new form length for the next operation. The turning of the crank around, to issue the strip written upon and printed, will set the machine for another operation; requiring the deposit of another coin. The

issue form is then torn oif-in the usual way.

It will be seen that as in my electrically operated machine, the time printing mechanism does not interfere with the construction of the machine, and the user has no operations to perform except to operate the mechanical coin slide which all persons are familiar with, and impart,"

a single rotation to the feed handle. He cannot tamper with the machine and due to the use of marginally perforated paper, the amount of paper fed is exact, and it will not be practical to tease a strip out of the machine, without positively rotating the feed pin wheel.

The arrangement of mechanism is simple, and

sturdy, so as to withstand untrained handling. f

remove a slip and leave a record thereof in s the machine, would require the preliminary stamping of the strip to be issued and its copy to be retained with certain time and date indicia needed for purposes of later identification.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A form issuing machine comprising a storage for plural printed forms in strips, a feed device for delivering one form length of one of said strips at each operation and retaining a copy thereof on another of the strips, a time wheel printing mechanism, a paper support for autographic entry on the said forms, said time wheel printing mechanism so located as to im-- print said forms when in position for writing thereon, a casing enclosing the forms having 2 shuttered opening through which writing can be performed on the topmost strip, a. lock for the feed device, a shutter and means for moving the same to disclose said shuttered opening, and

manually operated means arranged to operate the time wheel printing mechanism to print upon the form to be written upon and operate said shutter moving means, and release the lock for the feed device, and means operated separately from the manual means for operating the feed device after its release, and means operated by the feed device for resetting the shutter.

2. A form issuing machine comprising a storage for plural printed forms in strips, a feed device for delivering one form length of one of said strips at each operation and retaining a copy thereof on another of the strips, 3, time wheel printing mechanism, a paper support for autographic entry on the said forms, said time Wheel printing mechanism so located as to imprint said forms when in position for writing thereon, a casing enclosing the forms having a shuttered opening through which writing can be performed on the topmost strip, a lock for the feed device, a shutter and means for moving the same to disclose said shuttered opening, and manually form to be written upon and operate said shutter V a moving means, and release the lock for the feed device, and means operated separately from the manual means for operating the feed device after its release, said means being a single revolution crank, and means operated by the feed device for resetting the shutter.

v 3. A form issuing machine comprising a storage for plural printed forms in strips, a feed device for delivering one form length of one of said strips at each operation and retaining a copy thereof on another of the strips, a time wheel printing mechanism, a paper support for autographic entry on the said forms, said time wheel printing mechanism so located as to imprint said forms when in position for writing thereon, a casing enclosing the forms having a shuttered opening through which writing can be performed on the topmost strip, a lock for the feed device, a shutter and means for moving the same to disclose said shuttered opening, and manually operated means arranged to operate the time wheel printing mechanism to print upon the form to be written upon and operate said shutter moving means, and release the lock for the feed device, and means operated separately from the manual means for operating the feed device after its release, said manually operated means being a coin controlled member, and means operated by the feed device for resetting the shutter,

4,. A form issuing machine comprising a storage for plural printed forms in strips, a feed device for delivering one form length of one of said strips at each operation and retaining a copy thereof on another of the strips, a time wheel printing mechanism, a paper support for autographic entry on the said forms, said time wheel printing mechanism so located as to imprint said forms when in position for writing thereon, a casing enclosing the forms having a shuttered opening through which writing can be performed on the topmost'strip, a lock for the feed device, a shutter and means for moving the same to disclose said shuttered opening, and manually operated means arranged to operate the time wheel printing mechanism to print upon the form to be written upon and operate said shutter moving means, and release the lock for the feed device, and means energized separately from the manual means for operating the feed device after its release, said manually operated means being a coin slide, and means operated by the feed device for resetting the shutter.

5. A form issuing machine comprising a storage for plural printed forms in strips, a feed device for delivering one form length of one of said strips at each operation and retaining a copy thereof on another of the strips, 8. time wheel printing mechanism, a paper support for autographic entry on the said forms, said time wheel printing mechanism so located as to imprint said forms when in position for writing thereon, a casing enclosing the forms having a shuttered opening through which writing can be performed on the topmost strip, a lock for the feed device, a shutter and means for moving the same to disclose said shuttered opening, and manually operated means arranged to operate the time wheel printing mechanism to print upon the form to be written upon and operate said shutter moving means, and release the lock for the feed device, and means energized separately from the manual means ior operating the feed device after its release, said means being a single revolution crank, said manually operating means being a coin slide, and means operated by the feed device for resetting the shutter.

6. A form issuing machine comprising a storage for plural printed forms in strips, a feed device for delivering one form length of one of said strips at each operation and retaining a copy thereof on another of the strips, 9. time wheel printing mechanism, a paper support for autographic entry on the said forms, said time wheel printing mechanism so located as to imprint said forms when in position for writing thereon, a casing enclosing the forms having a shuttered opening through which writing can be performed on the topmost strip, a lock for the feed device, a shutter and means for moving the same to disclose said shuttered opening, and manually operated means arranged to operate the time wheel printing mechanism to print upon the form to be written upon and operate said shutter moving means, and release the lock for the feed device, and means energized separately from the manual means for operating the feed device after its release, and means for guiding the paper strips so that the portion to be printed on lies at an angle to the portion thereof to be written upon, said form feed having a length of movement sufllcient to move form lengths of the strips, at a single operation from the imprinting point to the delivery point, and means operated by the feed device for resetting the shutter.

7. A form issuing machine comprising a storage for plural printed forms in strips, a feed device for delivering one form length of one of said strips at each operation and retaining a copy thereof on another of the strips, 9. time wheel printing mechanism, a paper support for autographic entry on the said forms, said time wheel printing mechanism so located as to imprint said forms when in position for writing thereon, a casing enclosing the forms having a shuttered opening through which writing can be performed on'the topmost strip, a lock for the feed device, a shutter and means for moving the same to disclose said shuttered opening, and manually operated means arranged to operate the time wheel printing mechanism to print upon the form to be written upon and operate said shutter moving means, and release the lock for the feed device, and means energized separately from the manual means for operating the feed device after its release, said form feed having a length of movement suflicient to move form lengths of the strips at a single operation from the imprinting point to the delivery point, and means operated by the feed device for resetting the shutter;

ELMER G. STRECKFUSS. 

